3 Replies - 524 Views - Last Post: 05 October 2012 - 02:27 PM

Curt Schilling selling his bloody sock

Posted 04 October 2012 - 11:02 AM

Previously known for his exploits on the field, Schilling has occupied recent headlines for the failure of his video game business. Schilling said in June that he's "tapped out financially" and that he personally invested $50 million in the company that also received money from Rhode Island taxpayers.
[Full Article]

What do I take away from this article? Wow, $50 mil, & it's still a failed business.

Though there are many unknown factors to the story, this is how difficult that the video game industry is. & while I can't say if this is related to his MMORPG interest, I would like to know more information into this business investment.

Replies To: Curt Schilling selling his bloody sock

Re: Curt Schilling selling his bloody sock

Posted 04 October 2012 - 11:14 AM

The 'why'.

Quote

Speaking under condition of anonymity, multiple Gamasutra sources say the characterization of 38 Studios as a heavily-funded studio that bungled its resources at taxpayer expense is not entirely accurate.

But his naive optimism, backed by millions in taxpayer-backed bonds and Schilling's personal savings, was exploited and manipulated by executives and politicians, sources claim.

"I don't think it was a matter of having all the money necessary and just burning through it too quickly or irresponsibly. It was a matter of working overtime to make sure we continued to acquire funding sources, such as the Rhode Island-backed loan," a source from 38 Studios says.

"I can say that the company didn't spend money extravagantly at all," he adds. "We didn't have giant statues in the halls, or supercomputers with 30-inch monitors at every desk. We had what we needed to work on the game and that was it."
...
But the amount of the loan was viewed controversially by Rhode Islanders, amid media scrutiny of the major risk inherent in releasing a major MMO in the crowded fantasy genre. Schilling has claimed current governor Lincoln Chafee used that taxpayer anxiety to his advantage.
...
"I don't know how feasible [Copernicus] ever was, but it seemed to have modest expectations it would be able to achieve," says one former Big Huge Games employee. "Once things went bad, Chafee's office started leaking any information it could to make 38 Studios look like it had been a bad deal... unfortunately, a lot of these leaks involved partial and complete misinformation."

A 38 Studios employee corroborates, pointing out some of what he says are Chafee's most egregious acts of misinformation: Calling a private loan effectively cosigned by the state "taxpayer money" makes it appear that the state has already paid the cost, instead of being responsible for it in the event of failure.

And the highly-publicized million-dollar payment wasn't a loan payment as Chafee claimed, states the employee: "It was actually a weird extra fee to the board he was on, which had nothing to do with payments and interest -- [which was] already handled by setting aside a full third of the loan for that purpose," he adds. "This made it seem like we had somehow burned through all $75 million, including the money set aside to do this."

"While the average company salary has been quoted around $86,000, many many individuals were making far less than that, and living paycheck to paycheck," says a 38 Studios employee. "When we didn't get paid, it immediately became very difficult for a number of people, but they continued coming in and working anyway. As it seemed like things were not being resolved, people started bringing in extra food and leaving it in the kitchen for anyone who needed it to grab."

Re: Curt Schilling selling his bloody sock

Posted 04 October 2012 - 05:52 PM

It's hard to make it big in the gaming business, regardless of what field you choose to dive in. Even A+ games become critical successes and financial failures. They should have tried to go under the wing of some bigger company first then when they're making good games or their name is popular enough then they could branch out, like Bungie did from Microsoft. It is also worth noting that MMORPG gaming in particular is a very harsh industry. You have to be a Blizzard or a Guild Wars to stay. 80% of MMORPG games fail, in my opinion.